Warp control in a high speed loom



Oct. 17, 1961 c. R. KRONOFF 3,004,562

WARP CONTROL IN A HIGH SPEED LOOM Filed June 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR CLARENCE R. KRONOFF I ATTORNEY Oct. 17, 1961 c. R. KRONOFF3,004,562

WARP- CONTROL IN A HIGH SPEED LOOM Filed June 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2FIG? F|G.8 FIG.9

e 50 47 55 55 FIG. 4 79 e 3 V INVENTOR ATTORNEY CLARENCE R. KRONOFFUnited States Patent Ofifice 3,@4,5Z Patented Oct. 17, 196i 3,004,562WARP CONTROL A HIGH SPEED LOOM Clarence R. Kronoif, Worcester, Massassignor to Crompton & Knowles Corporation, Worcester, Mass., acorporation of Massachusetts Filed June 23, 1960, Ser. No. 38,329

15 Claims. .(Cl. 139--91) This invention relates to improvements in warpcontrol means for high speed looms.

Narrow ware goods can be woven either on a gang loom in which a numberof shuttles operate simultaneous- 1y, or on a single unit loom. In orderto operate eificient- 1y, looms of the latter type must operate at highspeeds such for instance as 1400 picks orsheds per minute. In looms ofthis'kind down time of as much as five minutes can mean a loss of 7,000picks and it is consequently important that the 'loom'be designed so asto permit rapid repair and renewal of parts in order .to reduce downtime to a minimum.

One of the conditions which can develop in a high speedv narrow wareloom is a defect in a heddle due to wear or malfunction. As'heretoforemade, the heddles and the harness frames which hold them have been soconstructed that .in order to remove a defective heddle it has beennecessary in many instances to remove many good heddles before thefaulty one .is reached. It is an important object of the presentinvention to make a harness frame and heddle ,in such manner that adefective heddle can be removed from where it is on the heddle railmerely by twisting .it a /1 turn without removing any of the otherheddles, after which it can be lifted out of the harness. frame and anewheddle inserted by a reverse operation. This result is attained as setforth hereinafter by having the upper end of the heddle formed withlobes or ears which engage the tops and bottoms of a pair of harnessframe members and having lower end of the heddle provided with adownwardly opening slot which can .fit around or straddle a heddle railsecured to the lower end of the harness frame.

In looms of the type mentioned it occasionally happens that adefect.will develop in one of the harness frames requiring, that the latter beeither removed and repaired, or be replaced with anew frame. It is afurther object of thepresent. invention to provide a harness frame madewith a removable top member which carries the aforesaid heddlesbut canbe detached from side members of the harness frame while :the warpthreads are threaded through the heddle eyes. The harness frame can thenbe turned andremoved by a. sidewise motion, leaving the top frame memberand the. heddles in the loom, the removal being made without disturbingany of the warp threads. i

It is a further object .of the present invention to provide :a harnessframe which has the advantages already mentioned and wherein the framehas side members connected across their tops by a combined harness frameforming member and heddle rail-or bar. In this feature ofthe-tinventiondetachablc connections are ,provided between the ends ofthe combined member and rail and the harness frame side members soconstructed that by detaching, the connections and relieving the tensionon a holding; or tie rod which extends to the bottom heddle rail the topmember can be lifted clear of the remainder of the harness frame andcarry the heddles and their warps with .it. .After .the frame has beendisconnected from its reciprocating driving member it can be removed asalready mentioned. The important part .of this feature. of the.invention is "the fact that the member across the top of the harnessframe serves :the dual function of completing the frame and alsoproviding a support for.

the upper ends of the heddles. In all known harness frames thesefunctions are performed by separate parts, namely, a cross piececonnecting the sides of the frame, and a separate heddle rail beneath itfor the heddles.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood reference is madeto the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example theembodiments of the invention and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of part of a loom having my invention appliedto it,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of part of the structure shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of one of the harness frames made accordingto the invention, parts being broken away,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of one end of the upper member ofthe harness frame showing it detached from the side members and showingthe upper end of the improved heddle,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the upper end of one of the side membersof the harness frame,

FIG. 6 is a plan view of one end of a harness frame showing the topmember attached to one of the side members and with several heddles inproper position, but with one of them turned to a position for removal,

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are views showing successively the steps to be followedin removing a heddle from the harness frame,

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary front view of a lower corner of a harnessframe,

FIGS. 11 and .12 are vertical sections on lines 11-11 and 12-12,respectively, FIG. 10, and

FIGS. 13-15 show the steps in removing a harness frame.

Referring more. particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, plate 1 represents partsof a narrow ware loom of the type shown for instance in Turner PatentNo. 2,625,959 and supports a harness mechanism designated generally atH. In the present instance four harness frames are shown which fromfront to back are designated at 2, 3, 4 and 5. The mechanism H has twospaced guides 6 and 7 which are removably bolted as at 8 to the plate 1.Each guide has a front harness frame guide rib 10 which engages a sideof the front frame 2 and has a boss 11 which receives a stud 12extending horizontally and held in fixed adjusted position by a screw13. Mounted on each stud 12 is a hub 16 held in adjusted position alongthe stud by screw 17. Each hub 16 has a vertically extending guide rib18 similar to rib 10 except that it is adjustable and as shown hereinengages a side of the rear harness frame 5. The hub 16 can be adjustedalong the stud 12 to accommodate as many harness frames as are needed.The mechanism shown and described in connection with FIG. 1 isduplicated but of the opposite hand on the other side of the mechanismH, as indicated in FIG. 2.

Each harness frame, such as 2 shown in FIG. 3, has two vertical parallellaterally spaced side members 25 and 26. which are preferably made ofwood, such as treated maple preferably having incorporated therein someantifriction material or lubricant, such as paraffin. The lower endof'each side member is undercut as at 30, see FIG. 11, to receivea'vertical part 31 of a cross bar 32 made preferably of sheet metal andhaving attachment to the lower end .of the side member by means ofhollow rivets 33. Each part 31 has riveted thereto at 34 an end of abottom heddle rail 35 fitting into a slot 36 in the side member. Thebottom rail 35 is above the cross bar 32, see FIG. 10. The lower end ofeach sidemember 2526 will be formed substantially as shown in FIGS. 10and 11, and all parts of the'harness frame thus far described will befastened to .each other rigidly but detachable with respect to eachother.

Each harness frame is connected to a driver 38 which extends downwardlythrough the plate 1 to driving connections (not shown) which eifectvertical reciprocation of the driver and its harness frame. In order toavoid the need for lubricating the connection between the driver and thecross bar 32 a construction similar to that shown in FIG. 12 may beemployed wherein a rubber washer 40 is bonded as at 41 to one side ofthe cross bar and has an internally threaded bushing 42 also bondedthereto. A screw 43 passing through the upper end of the driver 38 istapped into the bushing 42 and holds the bushing, the screw and thedriver together as a unit, the slight angular motion needed toaccommodate movement of the actuating means for the driver resulting ina slight shear deformation of the part 44 of the washer 40 which isbonded in a hole 45 in the cross bar. The construction shown in FIG. 12is one example of a way to connect a harness frame with a drivertherefor, but the invention is not limited to such a connection. Removalof screw 43 disconnects the harness frame from its driver.

The upper part of the harness frame is formed with a cross member 56which as shown in FIG. 4 and 6 comprises two spaced horizontalsubstantially fiat metal strip elements 51 and 52 which are connectedadjacent their longitudinal centers by a block 47 which is welded,brazed, or otherwise secured to the elements 51 and 52. Each end of eachelement 51-52 is offset and adjacent offsets 53 are proportioned toreceive between them the upper reduced end 55 of a side member, as 26shown in FIG. 5. The end 55 has an upwardly opening slot 56 thereinthrough which a clamping screw 57 passes. This screw, of which there isone at each end of the member 50, is threaded into one of the elementsand clamps the offsets against the upper end 55 of the correspondingside member.

Extending vertically through the block 47 is the upper end of a tie rod66 which is screw threaded at 61 to receive top and bottom adjustingnuts 62 and 63 for engagement with the top and bottom respectively ofthe block 47. The lower end of rod 60 is formed as a hook 64 to fit intoa notch 65 formed in the under edge of the bottom cross rail 35. Whenrod 60 is tightened in position by nut 62 it forces'the offsets 53firmlyagainst shoulders 54 on the side members, see FIG. 5.

In assembling the harness frame, connection with the driver 38 may firstbe established, after which the top member 50 will be fitted down overthe upper ends of the side members 25 and 26 and the hook 64 caughtunder.

the rail 35 in the notch 65. The nut 62 willthen be turned down on theupper threaded end 61 of the rod to draw against rail 35 and form atight fitting relation between the elements 51 and 52 and the sidemembers, the nut 63 having previously been run down on the screwsufficiently to permit this operation. The screws 57 are then set inposition to clamp the offsets of elements 51 and 52 against the reducedend 55 and the nut 63 run up against the under side of the block 47. Theharness frame now has all of its parts in rigid connecting relation andalong with others similar to it will be fitted between the ribs 10 and18. After application of heddles D the harness frames will be inreadiness for reciprocation incident to loom operation.

The warp controlling heddles D form an important part of the presentinvention and are shown more particularly in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6 to 9. Eachheddle is formed of spring sheet metal, such as steel, having a centralwarp eye 70 between upper and lower shanks 71 and 72 respectively. Theheddles are alike and one of them will be described in detail. The lowerend of shank 72 is formed with a downwardly opening slot 73 forming twodepending fingers 74 and 75 which fit around or straddle the bottom rail35.

The upper end of each heddle has apart 76 which fits 4 V the under sidesof the elements 51 and 52 and has similar upper ears 78 for engagementwith the tops of elements 51 and 52 and form part of a head 79. Thedistance between the bottom and top ears is only slightly more than theheight of the elements Sl and 52 so that there is a good driving fitbetween each heddle and its cross member 50. The part 76, ears 77 and 78and adjacent part of shank 71 are normally in a common plane transverseof member 50. I r

The fingers 74 and 75 of each heddle cooperate with the bottom rail 35to keep the cars 77 and 78 normally crosswise of member 50 so that aseach harness'frame is raised and lowered by its driver 38 the heddles onit will move with it to form top and bottom sheds in the warp threads W,FIG. 1 ,.which are threaded through the eyes 70.

It is believed that the operation of the heddle and harness frame willbeapparent from the foregoing description, the harness frames moving inwhatever sequence the pattern of the fabric being woven requires, thissequence being determined by the actuator means below plate 1. Theharness frames are confined to their operating zone in the loom bymutual engagement by the guides 6-7, and by the ribs 10 and 18.

As already mentioned, looms of the type described operate at high speedand because of that fact wear or breakage can result with the harnessframes and/ or heddles, in which event it is necessary to stop the loomand make a repair or replacement. If a heddle has become bent out ofshape, or badly worn, its 'head 79 will be grasped by the weaversfingers, or pliers, or other suitable tool, and given a turn from theposition shown. in FIG. 7 through the position shown in FI G. 8 to theposition shown in FIG. 9. When in the latter position the bottom cars 77are located in line with the slot 80 between the elements 51 and 52, andthe heddle can be lifted out of the harness frame, since the slot at thebottom of the heddle is open and the fingers 74 and 75 can slip up alongthe sides of the bottom rail 35. During removal of the heddle thefingers 74 and 75, being resilient, bend o rail 35.

A new heddle can then'have its lower end inserted down through slot 80and have its fingers 74 and 75 manipulated to straddle-the rail 35 whilethe head 79 is twisted and pushed down in place until the heddle by itsown inherent resilience snaps into position with its ears transverse ofmember 50 and in the normal working position relative to elements 51 and'52. The warp thread, previously broken, can then be rethreaded andretied, after which weaving can be resumed. It will be appreciated thatthis is a rapid repair made possible by the nature of the heddle andthetop member 50, and that the defective heddle can be removed withoutdisturbing or removing other heddles. 1

If some defect, such as excess wear, should develop in a harness frameit can be removed as indicated in FIGS. 13-15. While in the'position ofFIG.13 its screws 57 can be slackened to relieve their clamping effectbetween the upright side members and the cross member 50 and the nut 62can be run up on the threaded end 61 of rod 60 until the book 64 can bepushed down and detached from the bottom rail 35. The nut 62 can then berundown on the screw, and if need be the nut 63 run down, to raise thehook 64 to a position which will prevent it from moving under the rail35.

If the defect is in member 50 it can be lifted a short distance and theheddles given one-quarter turns to release them from the member. Whilethe heddles are still straddling rail 35 themember 50 can then beremoved with its tie rod 60, and be replaced by another member 50.During this replacement the heddles, which are sun threaded with theirwarps, can be twisted, as by grasping the lower ears 77,, and passed upthrough slot 80. The wedge shaped heads 79 facilitate twisting of theupper ends of the heddles as the latter are moved upwardly relatively tomember '50.

'If the defect is in-the lower part of the harness frame the screw 43can then be removed to disconnect the driver 38 from the harness frameafter which the cross bar 50, the rod 60 and the heddles will bedisconnected from the remainder of the harness frame and can be raisedas in FIG. '14. Support 6 can then have its screw 8 removed and be movedlaterally to the "left away from the warp threads, see 'FIG. 15', thusexposing the lefthand sides" of all the harness frames. The frame whichhas been disconnected from its driver 38 and cross member 56 can then beturned clockwise in its plane until its side members are horizontal,side member 26 above and member 25 below the heddle eyes and warpscorresponding to raised member 50. The partial frame can then be movedto the left, see arrow a, FIG. 15, and then turned upwardly, arrow b,and removed. This removal is effected without disturbing any of the warpthreads. During this operation the heddles and the member 50 associatedwith the defective frame will not share in the turning-of the harnessframe and the heddles will remain threaded with their warps.

If frame 2 is the one being removed its cross member i can be supportedby-the reed (not shown) at the right of FIG. 1. If, however, frame 5 isthe one being removed its member 50 can be moved back for support by thewarp threads. If, on the other hand, frame 3 or 4' is being removed itsmember 50 will be kept in place in part at least by the adjacent frames.In any event it may be desirable to pass an elastic band around theheddle heads 79 and the upper end of rod 60 to hold the ears or lobes 77and 78 transverse of member 50 and slots 75 in position for restraddlingof rail 35.

Replacement of a harness frame can be accomplished by procedures thereverse of those described for the removal of the frame. After the newframe has been placed with its side members first horizontal and thenturned to vertical position the screw 43 can be replaced to connecttheframe to its driver and then the lower ends of the heddles made tostraddle cross bar 35. The hook 64 will then be tightened and the screws57 clamped in place. Side guide frame '6 will then be returned to itsnormal position. The steps for removal of a frame need not necessarilyfollow the exact order already outlined.

It will thus be seen that repair of the warp manipulating parts of theloom can be made very rapidly so that down time may be held to aminimum. The heddle is constructed in such manner that it can be removedand be replaced merely by a A twist, and the harness frame is so madethat it can be disconnected from its top member 50 and the driver 38 andthen after removal of support 6 or 7 can be turned sufficiently to beremoved from the loom without disturbing any of the warp threads. Thecars, lobes or extensions 77 and 78 provide twice as much contact areawith the member 50 as that found in the ordinary heddle and rail.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of theinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, what isclaimed is:

1. In a loom harness frame to support warp heddles, two verticallyextending spaced substantially parallel side members, a bottom cross barsecured to the lower ends of the side members, a lower heddle railextending across the lower part of the harness frame secured to thelatter above the cross bar, a combined top heddle rail and frame formingmember extending across the top of the harness frame connected to theupper ends of the side members to complete the harness frame and providesupport for the upper ends of heddles when the lower ends of the latterare enaged wtih the lower heddle rail, and a driver operativelyconnected to the bottom cross bar, said combined top rail and memberbeing detachably connected to the side members and when detached isliftable upwardly from the remainder of the frame and the driver.

2. The harness frame set forth in claim 1 wherein the 6 top member isdetachablyconnected. to the side members and a tension rod with itslowerend hooked under the lower heddle rail has its upper end secured tothe topmember.

3; In control meansrforthe warp .of a loom, a harness frame having twoupper spaced parallel heddle engaging elements at the upper .end thereofand a single lower heddle rail at the lower end thereof, a resilientsheet steel heddle having a warp eyebetween the ends thereof and havinga lower end formed with a downwardly opening slot straddling the singlerail and having a flat part near the upper end thereof fitting betweenand. held transverse of the parallel elements by engagement of the lowerrail with the heddle, lobes on the heddle abovesaid part of the latterextending over said two elements, and other lo'beson the heddle belowsaid part extending under said two elements.

4. In-control means for the warp of a loom, a harness frame having twoupper spaced parallel heddle engaging elements at the upper end thereofand a single lower heddle rail at the lower end thereof, a resilientsheet steel heddle having a warp eye between the ends thereof and havinga lower end formed with a downwardly opening slot straddling the singlerail and having a fiat part near the upper end thereof fitting betweenand transverse of the parallel elements, an extension on the heddleextending over one of said two elements and a second extension on theheddle extending under one of saidelements normally effective to preventupward displacement of the heddle relative to the elements, the upperend of the heddle being twistable on itself to align the secondextension with the space between the two elements, whereupon the heddlecan be lifted upwardly from said two elements and from the single bar.

5. The control means set forth in claim 4 wherein the first extensionreaches over both of said two elements and affords a hand hold by whichthe heddle can be manually twisted.

6. The control means set forth in claim 4 wherein said slot is betweentwo fingers on the lower end of the heddle which engage opposite sidesof said single rail and hold said part of the heddle near the upper endthereof and said-extensions transverse of said two elements.

7. In control means for the warp of a loom, a harness frame having twoupper spaced parallel heddle engaging elements at the upper end thereofand a single lower heddle rail atthe lower end thereof, a resilientsheet steel heddle having a warp eye between the ends thereof and havingits lower end engaging the single bar but removable therefrom by upwardmovement and having its upper end extending between said two elementsand held against upward displacement relative to said elements byextension means engageable with the bottom of at least one of saidelements, the upper end of the heddle having an extension over at leastone of said elements, and the heddle being twistable on itself to alignthe extension means with the space between the two elements, whereuponthe heddle can be lifted from said two elements and from a single rail.

8. In control means for the warp of a loom, a harness frame having twoupper spaced parallel heddle engaging elements at the upper end thereofand a single lower heddle rail at the lower end thereof, a heddleextending between said upper elements engaging the latter and said lowerrail and normally held against upward and downof said upper and lowerportions of the heddle with at least one of said elements, the upper endof the heddle having formed therewith a hand hold above the elements bywhich the heddle may be twisted on itself to align said lower portionwith the space between the two elements, whereupon the heddle can belifted from said two elements and from the single rail.

9. A warp heddle for a harness frame having a single heddle rail andhaving also a pair of spaced parallel heddle engaging elements, theheddle being made of a single piece of resilient flat sheet metal andhaving one end formed with an open slot toreceive the single rail andhaving the other end formed with apart to fit between said pair ofelements and having lobe means above and other lobe means below saidpart extending laterally from said part in position to engage at leastone of said pair of elements when the single rail is in said slot, theupper vend of the heddle being twistable on itself :approximately 90with respect to the lower end thereof.

10. The heddle set forth in claim 9 wherein the first lobe means hasparts to extend over both of the elements and the other lobe means hasparts to extend under both of said elements.

11. In .a loom harness frame having vertical side members and a bottomcross bar secured to the lower ends of the side members, a bottom heddlerail fixed with respect to the side members above the cross bar, a topheddle supporting member, means detachably connecting the upper part ofeach side member to the adjacent end of the top member, heddlessupported by the top memher having downwardly opening slots in theirlower ends straddling the bottom rail and having eyes to receive warpthreads, the top member when detached from the side members enabling thelatter and top rail to separate vertically while the heddles are engagedwith the top rail and warp threads are in the eyes of the heddles, thebottom rail during the separation becoming disengaged from the heddles.

12. The harness frame set forth in claim 11 wherein the cross bar has adetachable connection with a driving means, said connection whendetached enabling the side members and cross bar to move downwardlyrelative to the heddles.

13. In a loom harness frame having vertical side members and a bottomcross bar secured to the lower ends of the side members, a bottom heddlerail fixed with respect to the side members above the cross bar, a topheddle supporting member, means detachably connecting the upper part ofeach side member to the adjacent end of the top member, heddlessupported by the top member having downwardly opening slots in theirlower ends straddling the bottom rail and having eyes to receive warpthreads, the top rail when detached from the side members enabling thelatter and top rail to separate vertically while the heddles are engagedwith the top members and the warp threads are in the eyes of theheddles, the bottom rail during the separation becoming disengagedfromthe heddles, the side members, and bottom cross barthen beingturnable to a position in which the side members are horizontal, oneabove and the other below the warp threads and then removable sidewayswithout disturbing the Warp threads.

14. In a loom harness frame having vertical side mem bers and a bottomcross bar secured to the lower ends of the side members, a bottom heddlerail fixed with respect to the side members above the cross bar, a topheddle supporting member, means detachab ly connecting the upper part ofeach side member to the adjacent end of the top member, heddlessupported by the top rail having downwardly opening slots in their lowerends straddling the bottom rail and having eyes to receive warp threads,the top rail when detached from the side members and raised relative tothe bottom rail enabling the side members and bottom rail to be turnedaround an axis extending more or less parallelto the Warp threads tolocate the side members one above and the other below the warp with thebottom rail at one side of the warp and then be moved laterally withoutdisturbing the warp threads.

15. In warp controlling harness mechanism for a loom having a base, aplurality of harness frames arranged side by side, guide means at eachside of said frames limiting lateral movement of the latter and normallysecured to said base, at least one of said guide means being removablelaterally from said frames, drive means detachably connected to thelower end of each harness frame, a combined frame forming and heddlesupport member detachably connected to the top of each harness frame,heddles depending from each member normally supported by the latter andhaving eyes for warp threads, each harness frame when detached from itsdrive means and from its top member being turnable in a plane parallelto the other frames for removal without disturbing any warp threads,provided said one guide means has been removed laterally to enable theframe to turn.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FranceDec. 2, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONPatent No. 3,004,562 October 17, 1961 Clarence R. Kronoff It iscertified that error appears in the above identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 5, line 69, "enaged" should read engaged Column 6, l1ne 65, after"down-" insert ward motion relatively to said elements by engagementline 66, cancel "said".

Signed and sealed this 13th day of January 1970.

(SEAL) Attest: I

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. v Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

